upepo
Elder Lister
It was obvious for many years that our schools were not prepared for CBE's Grade 10 transition. The STEM career pathway required massive investment in laboratories and equipment. Only a few C1 and C2 schools that had better infrastructure were somehow ready for the transition.
This resulted in enormous competition for slots in these schools. This has caused dangerous congestion, which is a likely source for all the unrest we are witnessing. It is also being reported that some C3 and C4 schools risk closure due to a lack of students.
These poorly-funded schools lack the infrastructure and resources to offer STEM courses. This early specialisation was going to be a problem, as we opined many times. As expected, most of the parents prefer the STEM pathway for their children. Schools that can't offer that will be doomed.
We are also going to see increased privatisation of secondary education. Many public schools have no capacity to offer CBE. Parents will be forced to pay for private education. This will be a big burden even to middle-income families. Children from low-income backgrounds will drop off altogether. This is a national tragedy that is not being taken seriously.
Does it have to take the children to tell adults the obvious? Why are we forcing on ourselves a system of education that we cannot afford? Aren't we in charge of our own affairs? What do we owe the people behind this education system that we cannot turn back?
The next government should consider packaging the subjects under CBE into an exam that can be done under the former system. The students should continue doing KCSE, as we roll back this disastrous system that risks destroying an education system that was respected worldwide.